Father of Parkland Shooting Victim Says Brett Kavanaugh 'Turned His Back' to Him at Confirmation Hearing

The father of Parkland shooting victim Jamie Guttenberg says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “turned his back” when he approached to shake hands during a break in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Fred Guttenberg, who attended the first day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings as a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, approached the Supreme Court nominee as the room broke for lunch. Video footage from CSPAN shows Guttenberg reaching out his arm toward Kavanaugh, who looks at him for a moment before turning away as a security guard walks up and steps in between them.

Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jamie Guttenberg who was killed in the shooting in Parkland, Fla., left, tries to shake hands with @realDonaldTrump's Supreme Court nom., Brett Kavanaugh, right, during a lunch break. Kavanaugh did not shake his hand. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) @appic.twitter.com/smcCGuLT6X

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Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg's dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.

Guttenberg said on CNN Tuesday evening that he approached Kavanaugh after hearing him talk about his children during his introduction ahead of the hearing.

“I went up to him as a dad,” Guttenberg said. “I don’t go home to my complete family anymore. My daughter was killed and I am really concerned about how he’s going to rule on certain things that matter a lot to me because I don’t wan tot see other families go through what we have gone through.”

Guttenberg again disputed Shah’s account of the encounter between him and Kavanaugh. He said that not only did Kavanaugh refuse to shake his hand, he called security to remove him from the hearing, identifying him by the bracelets he wears to remember his daughter.

Guttenberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The AP reports that Capitol Police talked with Guttenberg and he was back in the hearing room for the afternoon session of the confirmation hearing.